Already with one relay medal, NC’s Kaylyn Brown in line to win another at Paris Olympics
North Carolina’s Kaylyn Brown looks to add another Olympic medal to her trophy case after winning silver in the 4x400m mixed relay on Sunday and she’s one step closer to achieving that.
Brown ran the anchor leg of the women’s 4x400 relay Friday morning, with a 13-year age difference between her and Quanera Hayes, who started off the relay. She ran a 50.54-second split as the team posted a 3:21.44, a season’s best as they cruised to a win in their heat, advancing to Saturday night’s final.
“I feel great,” Brown said after running her third 400 relay leg of the Olympics. “We trained for this. I did a lot of workouts. I really am conditioned and trained. I just wanted to go out there and execute and honestly run my race.”
Brown has been running since she was little, as she started running with the Sugar Creek Jaguars in Charlotte at the age of four and competed at Mallard Creek High School. The pressure of big moments doesn’t bother her. She has already had plenty of experience.
She won the 2022 World U20 Championships 4x400 mixed relay gold, silver in the 400 at NCAA championships for Arkansas and she finished fourth in the 400 at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, garnering her a spot in the Team USA relay pool.
Age doesn’t faze Brown as the 19-year-old continues to prove that she belongs as she has made two relay teams in her first Olympic Games. That boost of confidence stems from the help of her coach.
“Honestly, it’s my coach,” she said. “He really made me confident. He made me mentally strong and I’m in the SEC and that’s the toughest conference. Honestly the girls on my team are literally the best in the world in the 400 so running against them, practicing with them, running on the same relay team, it just boosts my confidence. Age doesn’t matter - if you’re fast, you’re fast so I just get out there and show the world who I am.”
Just a few months after her freshman season Arkansas where she was the 2024 NCAA 4x400m relay champion (collegiate record holder), the North Carolina native is representing Team USA in Paris.
But regardless of where her spikes take her on the track, she’ll always stay true to her roots and where she has come from.
“I actually live in Gastonia,” Brown said, “but nobody knows what that is - it’s like 30 minutes away from Charlotte but honestly I love Charlotte. I love the feel of Charlotte downtown - the big city lights and everything. A lot of food, a lot of people, a lot of activity in communities you can just like come together and have fun so I love being from Charlotte.”
Anna Laible is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. Laible hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).
This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Already with one relay medal, NC’s Kaylyn Brown in line to win another at Paris Olympics."